Taiwan is joining the ranks of governments wary to join in on the craze that is the virtual currency bitcoin.
台湾政府也加入了慎对比特币热潮的行列。
The island's financial regulator said Monday that physical teller machines for the virtual currency 'will not appear' here, after Las Vegas-based RoboCoin, which makes bitcoin ATMs, reportedly said it had chosen Taiwan and Hong Kong as its first spots to expand in Asia.
台湾金融监管部门周一表示，不会允许设置比特币自动柜员机(ATM)。此前有报道称，拉斯维加斯比特币ATM制造商RoboCoin已经选择台湾和香港作为进军亚洲市场的首批落脚点。
'Bitcoin is not a legal tender. Banks should not accept savings in bitcoins and the FSC will not allow the installation of bitcoin ATMs in Taiwan,' Tseng Ming-chung, chairman of Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission, told The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
台湾金融监督管理委员会(Financial Supervisory Commission)主委曾铭宗周一在接受《华尔街日报》采访时称，比特币不是法定货币，银行不能收付比特币，金管会也不会批准在台湾设置比特币ATM。
RoboCoin couldn't be reached for comment Monday during Asian daytime hours.
记者未能在周一亚洲白天时段联系到RoboCoin对此发表评论。
RoboCoin launched its first bitcoin ATM in a Vancouver coffee shop in November, where it racked up 1 million Canadian dollars (US$941,500) in transactions in less than a month. ATM users can either buy or sell bitcoin through the machines.
RoboCoin去年11月份在温哥华一间咖啡店设置了首个比特币ATM，不到一个月时间成交额就达100万加元（合941,500美元）。 用户可以通过ATM买入或卖出比特币。
Taiwan is not alone in dodging the newfangled bitcoin frenzy. Governments and banks around the world are worried that the absence of scrutiny over bitcoin--which isn't issued or backed by a central government but is created through a sophisticated computer process--could be a hotbed for money laundering or other illegal activities.
拒绝加入比特币热潮者并非少数。全球许多政府和央行担心，比特币缺乏监管可能会成为洗钱或其他非法活动的温床――比特币并非由中央政府发行或提供支持，而是通过一种复杂的电脑程序产生。
China's central bank last month asked some domestic payment processors to stop trading with the country's biggest bitcoin exchange, BTC China. The move sent the virtual currency's value plunging by as much as 38% against the dollar at the time. The People's Bank of China also said financial institutions shouldn't take deposits from bitcoin-related businesses or provide them insurance or custody services, though it said individuals could continue to buy and sell bitcoin.
上个月中国央行要求国内一些支付公司停止为中国最大的比特币交易平台比特币中国(BTC China)提供支付与结算服务。此举导致比特币兑美元价格一度暴跌38%。中国央行还表示，金融机构不得展开与比特币相关的业务，也不得为比特币提供保险或托管业务，不过央行指出，私人可以继续买卖比特币。
Hong Kong's finance chief John Tsang warned in December that the bitcoin run couldn't last forever because there was 'no support from the real economy,' but the city's Monetary Authority has reportedly said it won't regulate the bitcoin ATMs.
香港财政司司长曾俊华(John Tsang)在12月份发出警告说，比特币行情不会永远持续，因为没有实体经济支持，不过有报道称，香港金融管理局(Monetary Authority)表示，不会去管制比特币ATM。
According to Mt.Gox, an online bitcoin exchange, the virtual currency is currently trading at $1,049. The currency started 2013 at less than $20 and crossed the $1,000 threshold in November before plunging to $640 after BTC China stopping taking deposits.
据比特币网络交易中心Mt.Gox，比特币目前的价格为1,049美元，而在2013年初还不到20美元，去年11月份价格突破1,000美元大关，在比特币中国停止接收人民币储值业务之后一度暴跌至640美元。
Taiwan's FSC said that usage of bitcoin on the island is 'minimal,' with only a handful of online game providers accepting the currency. Wayi International Digital Entertainment Co., a Taiwanese online game provider, has said it intends to accept bitcoin and may even become an exchange.
台湾金管会称，比特币在台湾的使用量不大，只有一些网络游戏供应商接受比特币。台湾网络游戏供应商华义国际数位娱乐股份有限公司(Wayi International Digital Entertainment Co.)表示，公司计划接受比特币，将来甚至可能成为一个交易平台。
'If bitcoins do expand into the local market, we will then consider launching more measures to strengthen our supervision,' Mr. Tseng said.
曾铭宗称，如果比特币在台湾的使用量增加，则考虑推出更多措施加强监管。